I am lazy, lazy, lazy today. I was supposed to get up at 4:30 and jump right into work. That’s my usual schedule. Of course, that’s been my usual schedule for a while, but at some point last week I hit my “Fuck It” point and have not been following the schedule at all. Today, for example, I didn’t get up until almost 9AM, even though I know I need to blog, cartoon, work on taxes and do Cookie Mom stuff. I just couldn’t be arsed. Really, all I wanted to do was stay curled in bed where it was nice and warm and just doze.
And maybe I’ve earned it, given how much work I’ve been cranking out in the last several months, and maybe I haven’t. I don’t know. I only know that I’ve hit the point of burn out and nothing really seems that critical anymore. It’s time to dial it back a bit, whether my workload will allow it or not.
So I contacted my clients earlier this week and let them know I need to scale back on my incoming work. I’ve taken an indefinite leave of absence from one job and have told another client they need to hire a second artist to do cover work for them. Part of me hates giving up the work, but part of me would seriously like to get back to that time in my life when I could take a day off every week and spend it doing things like sewing or baking or playing video games or reading or even just snoozing on the couch for a long afternoon nap. I need the downtime, so I’m taking it.
I also need time to focus more on my personal projects, because I can get the writing and the art done, but then I don’t have time to do anything with it beyond that. I can’t find time to promote my writing, or make prints of my artwork, or set up an online store for said prints, or get my podcast book set up on PodioBooks.com, or even set up a Facebook page. It’s ridiculous. I really need to scale things back to where I’m only working on one or two projects at a time, so I have time to focus on the marketing and promoting of those projects before moving onto the next big thing I want to do. Honestly, I think I’d start making money if I did that. Thus another reason why I’m scaling back on client-based work.
The whole Cookie Mom thing will be over in a few more weeks, and that should free up a LOT of time. I don’t regret taking on that job because Princess really enjoys Girl Scouts and because a part of me geeks on logistical projects like this. What can I say? I was a transportation officer in the Army Reserves. This was exactly the sort of work I did for 11 years. Only with crusty old NCOs instead of squealing little girls young enough to be missing their two front teeth.
So I’m lazy today, and I don’t give a damn about much of anything except sitting on the couch and vegetating. And playing Wii games with the kids and catching a nap here and there. Tomorrow I will throw myself back into work. I’ll be at EPICon in Williamsburg this weekend, and I’ll be busy with Cookie Mom stuff until the end of the month. Come April, I’m going off the rails and taking a whole day off. Woo hoo. Or whatever.
Enjoy your Sunday 😉
Ahh, it feels good to hear you talking about this. Sometimes I have this illusion that everyone else is smoothly tippy-tapping away at their lives with nary a detour.
My own transition from ft work to pt home has been nuts, and I’m still wobbling around trying to figure out how to still complete my billable hours and also organize myself to set up all my personal make-money-with-it projects. I’m thrilled for the change, just reeling with the mess it all made. Also I’m terrified of the financial shift — my husband keeps reminding me that we can do it, but I still ask myself a million times a day “Can we do it?” Urgh.
Keep writing this stuff! I’m watching and learning!